East Stroudsburg indie movie house buys building

When the Pocono Community Theater became a nonprofit in 2008, the plan always had been to buy the theater instead of just renting it.

MICHAEL SADOWSKI

When the Pocono Community Theater became a nonprofit in 2008, the plan always had been to buy the theater instead of just renting it.

Perhaps it was more of a dream than a plan.

But as the group gets ready to celebrate four years open, it now has something else to celebrate, as it is now the owner of its East Stroudsburg building.

For those behind the theater's operation, closing on the building Wednesday marked the end of one long road and the beginning of another more promising one.

"We've been really pushing this for four years," said Ray "Skip" Scheetz, president of the theater's board of directors. "It was something we always felt we needed to do to make sure we could function."

The independent movie theater and cultural center is still catching on in the local entertainment scene, but no longer paying $5,000 monthly rent will help pay to bring in more events, Scheetz said.

This weekend, the theater will bring in the singing string quartet Well Strung for three shows Saturday and Sunday.

"We thought we would get there, certainly," Scheetz said of buying the building. "The vision from the beginning was getting it done. There were a lot of times where I didn't know how we'd continue."

Keeping the theater open has been a struggle, not just for the new ownership, but the previous owners and managers as well. From 2006-08, it opened and closed three times before the nonprofit idea became a reality.

Getting to the closing was tricky. It required a $100,000 donation from New York City travel executive Lisa Morris, some fancy financial planning and some other donations from locals.